Raging Waters

Raging Waters is super fun! My friends and I had an awesome time even though it was freezing!
The food there is a 3.5÷5 stars because we waited about 45 min in line just for pizza and 20 min for the pizza to be done. We also got dippin’ dots and waited 25 min even though there was 3 people in front of me! NEVER ORDER any of the seafood because my sister ordered it and she got really sick.
I am coming back but I hope that they speed up the lines and make the food faster!

We came Saturday ⁹⁄₂₆ and had a lot of fun! Got there a little before 11am and still found plenty of parking in the 1^st lot closest to the entrance. Lots of trees in the lot provide shade throughout the day. No need for a tram, temperature was in the mid-80’s.
There are lots of young people who work this park but I didn’t have issue with any of them. The first ride we went on was Speed-​Slide. This was my first time at a waterpark and left my keys in my shorts pocket… Notified the lifeguard and he blew his whistle to stop riders from coming down while he goggled up and searched for my keys in the pool, which he found! Thank you!
I talked to other employees throughout the day and they were all helpful. Some don’t look all that approachable because, well, many of them have to stand the entire day in one area without chairs! RagingWaters, supply your workers with chairs! Seriously felt bad for them.
Lockers & Cubbies. *TiP*
If you get a spot in the 1^st lot, I recommend saving your money and keeping a lunch (along with your valuables) in your car. There were four of us in our group and we didn’t have a problem taking a break after a few hours to go back to the car (remember it’s shady!) and eat up. Lots of families do this. It was a nice time away from the crowds. Leave your water bottle in the car too, there are several bathrooms around the park with drinking fountains. If you’re really hot, worker told me you can get a cup of ice from the Carls Jr. stand near the entrance. Definitely drink lots of water throughout your stay, the 10-​gulps I drank was sufficient for an hour or two. There are also little cubbies (plastic pipe) on every ride where you can shove your sunglasses, flip-​flops, etc… into so that you aren’t holding it through the ride. Worker told me that if I had something valuable like a camera, to just wrap it up in a shirt and that usually that’s fine. We never had any issues.
Rides and wait time.
Aqua Rocket was pretty fun and the line was one of the fastest as it functions more like a roller coaster.
Dropout also had a very short line and was relatively fast as the slide from top to bottom only takes a few seconds. It looks a lot scarier than it really is. I was nervous going up but once I did it, I wanted to go again. Do It! :) Water rushes up your shorts at the bottom though, almost felt like I got hit in the nuts… lol. You hit speeds close to 40mph at the bottom!
High-​Extreme was also lots of fun BUT if you are afraid of heights or weak, you may not make the trek to the top. I saw a few people (maybe 5% of riders!) who waited in the hour long line just to grab a mat, start walking up the stairs, and end up turning around and walking back down. What a waste of time! Once you are actually on the ride, you can’t tell how high you are and it’s fun!
SpeedSlide had a longer wait time and was actually the scariest one that I did. I felt like I was almost sliding out and there were some quick drops. Main complaint with this one is that they don’t let anyone go down the slide until the pool at the bottom is completely clear. As soon as riders move towards the exit of the pool, it should be safe to allow another pair of riders to go down. This saves valuable time, please change this!
The others were fun as well but these were the most notable for us.
Park was pretty clean all around and nothing looked that old, not sure what people are complaining about. I read many reviews before coming and tried to see how much truth there was to it, seems like a lot of whining.
Suggestions and reasons for not 5-​stars.
We came on a day when it was not too hot and the crowds were relatively light. I could see it being a lot more stressful and uncomfortable if its hot out and there are tons of people. We were in the shade for every line so that wasn’t a problem BUT a worker told me that when it’s crowded, lines go pretty far out from the shaded area. That should be fixed with some more shade, misters, and fans to keep guests cool. Also, mark the area in line with the estimated amount of wait time, that way riders can have an idea of how much longer the wait will be by looking at markers in the waiting lines. You could also have tv’s around the park with current ETA’s for each ride, that will help spreading out the crowds.
My MAIN complaint and what I mentioned above was the fact that the RPM (Riders per minute) was pretty darn slow on some of the rides like HighExtreme, SpeedSlide, DarkHole, etc… They need to find a way to increase the RPM so that people don’t get frustrated while waiting in line. Some rides have two slides but would only allow one slide at a time. My guess is that they engineered it poorly and there was some issues of bumping into each other at the end. This doesn’t seem too hard to fix, fix it! Add a soft wall at the bottom to keep riders separated.
Also needs more park maps around grounds, clearer drive exit signs, and longer open hours!
Have fun & don’t forget the sunscreen :)

The Name Game
Name #1 RAGING LINES. Holy crap some lines are up to an hour long for a few seconds sliding down a water filled plastic pipe! And an over an hour to get a few slices of way overpriced pizza! The only place without a line was the bathroom cuz everybody pees in the pools. if you go on a weekend, plan on ONE slide per hour.
Name #2 RAGING ASSHOLE! They need to change the name of this place cuz that’s how I felt as the multitude of ghetto creatures young and old that feel its ok to line jump whenever they want. A couple of parents even flipped me some shit when I pointed out where the end of the line was. Screw ‘em I held my ground! The park staff do nothing to discourage this even though signs are clearly posted everywhere. One ride attendant told me it was not her problem. WTF?
Name #3 RAGING GARBAGE. There is trash everywhere, I saw only one guy all day actually picking up trash. But lots of RW attendants lollygagging around everywhere pretending to be cleaning up the huge messes left behind by the masses of 3^rd world attendees here.
Name #4 RAGING WALLET Once your in they got you by the purse strings. From the minute you walk in and see the $ 13 dollar Carls JR Famous Star combo (cheese extra) you know your screwed. Small lockers are $ 12 but the machine would not dispense more than $ 7 change so you pay $ 13 if using a $ 20. At this park the only thing management wants is your money. However deals can be found, Groupon, internet, Carls Jr.
NAME #5 RAGING INFECTION There was so much debris floating in the water on the Lazy River and god knows how many kids piss in there? Absolutely disgusting water. Really gross. I was shocked to not find a CDC field office permanently set up there. Truly disgusting. Thank god for the ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ ratio of chlorine in the water.
Name #6 RAGING BEES Those little stingers are everywhere! I got stung on my leg!
RIDES:
–Drop Out is my favorite slide. It’s like going off a cliff. Fast as hell! Short ride down to the pool that slows you down.

–I enjoy Votex. It’s a 270′ fully enclosed tunnel.
–The Speed Slides are great a fat boy like me wins every time!
–High Extreme is fun but it’s a hike to get to the top of the tower.
The group rides are kinda fun for groups but I prefer the slides for individual people
On the plus side… the kids areas here is far better than almost any water park I’ve been to anywhere. Unlike the other water parks in the L.A./OC area, there is a lot of seating here, and it’s not hard to find a spot from which you can sit down and actually watch your kids play.

Not sure if I’ll return

Water parks have never interested me. it’s been years since I’ve worn a swim suit. But for the grandson’s birthday, we ventured to Raging Waters. He’s seen the advertisements all around town and thought RW would be a GREAT place to celebrate.
As it turns out, we’re experiencing a major heatwave in Los Angeles and the mere hint of outside near water sounded so alluring we were thrilled to tag along.
Directions. We’d never been to San Dimas so we used Mapquest to plot our journey — closest freeways, what exit to take, etc. Raging Waters has been a major playground in the LA area since I was a kid. I thought street signs would direct the way once we got in the vicinity. Not so. We got lost. Overshot freeway directions, then navigated through the streets of San Dimas to backtrack. Lovely community, but the signs to Raging Waters measured about 12×12 inches. EASILY missed. The turnoff was so small I missed it again. Only when we passed the park and Jake said, «There it is!» (water slides nestled among the trees) did we realize our mistake. So don’t depend on street signs. Use a GPS or a good map.
Parking. We arrived early and parking was a breeze. Others in our party arrived after noon. By then parking was a problem. In fact, when they left, finding their car was a nightmare. So go early.
Restrooms. Abundant, but not too well maintained. All the water and sand must wreck havoc on the aging facilities. The restroom we used most often was filthy when we arrived. Later in the day someone had been in to clean. Might have been better to start the day with clean restrooms when people use them to change clothes.
Security. There’s a manned security station just past the park’s entrance. Eavesdropping on a conversation. .. a man reported to guards that his secure locker containing clothes/​wallet/​keys had been compromised, all contents stolen. So do watch your personals.
Food. We perched at the eating area next to Carl’s Jr. Great spot. Well covered. Great vantage point to survey majority of the park. Breezy and cool. We ate early. Hubby chose Carl’s Famous Star. Less than appetizing. I ordered Chicken Nachos. Wow! Really good. Flavorful and abundant. Enjoyed every guacamole smear, every bean soaked chip. Yum!
Food Prices. Deserves its own paragraph. Food bought at the park is EXPENSIVE — maybe 3x’s what you’d spend outside the park. Bring cash or credit cards. You can’t bring food into the park. If you do bring your own, you must eat outside the park. RW does provide benches.
Ambiance. Here’s where we get real. We walked around a lot to stretch our legs, but didn’t get in the water so I can’t judge the rides. Everyone looked busy and happy. We had a great time. The kids, however, said roughhousing in the water without supervision from employees and rampant foul language would keep them away. Doubt if we’ll go back, which is why I could only rate RW 2-​stars.

This is an email I sent to Raging Waters after somebody in the office told me that the managers are NEVER in the office and that I should send an email to all managers. They didn’t have to comp me, but they could have taken the time to reply. This and the fact that the day was miserable between the 5 one minute rides is more than enough reason for a one star rating. Too bad there isn’t a zero star rating for «HELL NO!» They get enough people in so they simply do not care. Maybe enough of the plentiful bad ratings I see will make a difference next year. I’m embarrassed to have this place in my town.
To whom it may concern:
I have been a customer since 1983 or 1984. I have been back every 5 years or so. Since I now live in San Dimas, I was going to buy season tickets for my family (5 of us), but I thought that we should check out the park since we hadn’t been for a few years. What happened?
We bought the family pack since only 4 of us were going. Our visit took place on Saturday, August 22, 2015. I realized it was going to be crowded, but the crowds were actually not that bad — at first. We arrived before 10 and got the last spot in the lot across from the park. The wait to get to the lot would cause me to simply walk from home up Walnut next time. I would have gotten there sooner. I’m not kidding. Hikers were passing us.
We probably got into the first line for Aqua Rocket a little before 11 am. This line was an hour long. Drop off was a fast line because only those who want heart attacks and wedgies go on that one (last ride for me was in the 1990s). High Extreme 2 was 1 ½ hour wait. The worst were the speed slides. The line wasn’t even long, but the rate at which people were being sent down the flumes was infinitesimally slow. I realize that you have to keep it safe, but that was not the problem. Both slides should be going and the next person would go when the former reaches the bottom. There was actually perhaps two minutes and sometimes 3 between riders. This slide was always a fast line. No more.
What made it worse is that half the rides were closed. The lazy river was not very fun as people were blocking the entrance/​exits waiting for tubes or something. No lifeguards were supervising there. I could barely get through to get in, or out. People are allowed to run people over. I didn’t see the lifeguard correcting anyone no matter what they did. Are they not allowed to confront the public or at least ask them to be considerate? Is it because they are young and intimidated by some of the customers?
The worst part of the day is when I stood in a line for more than an hour for food. It was only 15 people deep. I sent my husband and then my two sons on the lazy river while I waited for food — Not all together, but one after another. That was pretty dismal. The food tasted like it had been dipped in salt. There was a family from England in front of us in the hot sun and they had been to water parks across the country and exclaimed that this was the worst time they experienced on their trip. I was kind of embarrassed as this is my town.
We went on 5 rides from 11 am to 6 pm. The waits were so long that we would completely dry off and get dehydrated waiting in line. At one point I was getting a little sick. We started making jokes like: «Raging Waters: the driest you will ever be at a water park.» Is that worth the $ 140 we spent on tickets, the $ 15 for parking, and the $ 12 on the locker? The only reason we got the last ride in was because the park was about to close and we managed to get on the racing slides at the last moment.
Since I live right down the street, season tickets here should be a no-​brainer. I don’t think I could get my husband to agree to it. I don’t think I could get the kids to go back. Is there any way you could send us some tickets for next year so we could give Raging Waters another chance. I love the slides and the staff was really nice. I was really disappointed that I didn’t get to go on Dark Hole. That one is my favorite. I also like that Neptune one, but as we were eating I watched the line and it also barely moved. I skipped it. I shouldn’t have had to. Will you do something for us?
Thank you for your time in this matter

Hands down this is my favorite Cali water park! For starters I love the drive into the park. You drive right by a lake from the park next door and thru the hills filled with trees. Nice nature scene all around you as well while at the park. Because of the park being in the mountains you have lots of bees around. The bees are pretty much everywhere so if you are allergic I would make sure to bring some protection.
As for pricing it is pretty affordable! Regular admission is $ 41.99 and at Carls Jr. You can get a coupon for $ 8 off. They have special save days which you can purchase online and it’s $ 30. I think it’s decent for a full day of fun in the water with a variety of slides and pools!
They have the most slides compared to all the water parks in southern Cali. There is a lot which you ride on a tube and those are my favorite. Plus the tubes are part of the ride and you don’t have to spend extra money to rent one. The lazy river is great to relax in and even the kids area is full of fun slides and activities! The new aqua rocket ride is lots of fun!!! It’s a water coaster held by magnets that has you going up and down thru tubes! We enjoy coming here at least once very summer for some family fun!!!

The only problem I had here besides the water being filthy and the bathrooms being gross is the whole weight thing. Saw this couple stand in line like everyone else to ride a two rider slide and when they got to the top and the woman working the slide told them to stand on the scale she was like «you two can’t ride together» (this couple wasn’t even on the «big» side they were just tall) and then the girl was like you can ask someone smaller to ride with you. Or make the people behind you switch partners“
And the couple were like no we waited this whole time to ride together we aren’t going to make someone switch with us it’s okay thank you. The way the girl spoke to them was straight out bitchy and rude.